Monday, November 13, 2006

Trouble on tariffs

In an opinion poll carried out in Kyiv last week, 77% of respondents considered the increases in housing and communal services tariffs were unjustified: 45% said they cannot pay the new tariffs, and 44% said they could, but that it would be difficult.

Details of a similar poll taken in Donetsk are described in an article entitled, 'To pay or not to pay, this is the question..' in today's 'Donbass' newspaper.

In their poll, 40% of those in employment said they would not pay, against 54% who said they would.

47% of pensioners said they would not pay and and equal portion, 47%, said they would.

Three quarters of the respondents who are intending not to pay explained that this was because they just don't have the money in their family budget to do this.

My bet is that this is a far greater worry for most families that questions about NATO, special status for the Russian language, possible entry into the EU, squabbles in the VR, and so on.

It's a form of civil disobedience and protest to not pay your bills, as well as a way to balance your household budget. A lot safer than protest on the streets. But in the long run prices for heat and electricity are going to keep on rising to cover costs, until people realise they have to stop wasting them.